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Bellatrix went to the big terrarium in the sky today 😭 She was my favorite Ghost, my lil green bug eating machine. I woke to find her barely hanging from the tulle in her enclosure. I tried to give her some water or honey, but she was pretty far gone and was just striking at things out of instinct. I held her and thanked her for being my friend, then put her in the freezer.

A fly shortage at my house has led to a lot of hungry mouths to feed! Luckily, my pupae began eclosing yesterday am and we are back on the flies! Some of my mantids had 6 days of empty bellies waiting for the BBF to hatch; they were all so, so ready to eat yesterday.

Bad news: I had to give the freezer treatment to 2 of my Orchids yesterday, Domenic and Margot.

Domenic made it over 4 months as an adult male orchid, and that is a feat! He must've been 100 in mantis years. Domenic molted to adult 11/7. I found he had collapsed in his enclosure yesterday am. His back 2 remaining legs had ceased to function and he was fading in and out of consciousness. I gave him some honey water and held him in my hand to comfort him before sending him to the big terrarium in the sky. Idk if the scant food in his last days took him out sooner. I may have had another week with him had the food not run so low. He was trying to eat up until the end. Grabbed a fly and wouldn't let go, even though he lacked the coordination to eat it. RIP Buddy ❤️

Margot was a subadult that mismolted to adult, badly. She decided to molt off of the side of the enclosure regardless of adequate perches being available, and her strategy did not work out well. She got stuck in her molt, and it looks like she tried to climb out but failed. I have no idea how long she was like this, contorted on the wall of her enclosure, unable to inflate her wings. She had clearly hardened her exoskeleton and was beyond help. I thought she was dead, until I saw her move and then it was straight to the freezer to end her pain. Poor girl 😔 This was the more disturbing of the 2, as I knew Dom was on his way out due to age.

Barbie molted to adult last night! I came home from work to find her in all her glory, and let me tell you, she is big! Definitely bigger than her sisters

I believe she molted an additional time as a juvenile, has anyone ever had this happen? I am certain she was an L2 at purchase, and she has molted 7 times in my presence, becoming an adult at L9 instead of L8 like all my others (her sisters included). This may be why she is substantially larger as an adult. Is this common?

It got me thinking I should take photos of my girls next to a ruler, for reference. Also, I hope she is receptive to breeding!

Old man Domenic is still alive, though he has lost a second leg now. I keep expecting to find him dead, or keeled over but he is still hanging in there and eating so I guess he is okay!

My husband caught some horse flies in our powered shop. We don't know where they are coming from, and can't locate the source as yet. It's probably a dead rat somewhere in the walls (ew!), but who am I to look a gift horse fly in the mouth! 😂🤣

I put a video of Utah catching one on my IG. I tried to link it here but it didn't work. I'll have to get a Dropbox and try that

I came home from work last night to find Declan on the floor of his enclosure collapsed. He was expected to molt to adult any day now.

Looks like Declan fell while preparing for his molt. One of his antennae were broken, and you could see the adult antenna sticking out underneath. He was clearly already detaching from his exoskeleton, as he seemed to have no coordination of his limbs and his tarsi were sitting strangely. I tried giving him honey water 3 times, but he couldn't move or grip anything. There was no way he would be able to molt to adult, or survive the way he was, so I put him in the freezer 😭

I came home from work last night to find Declan on the floor of his enclosure collapsed. He was expected to molt to adult any day now.

Looks like Declan fell while preparing for his molt. One of his antennae were broken, and you could see the adult antenna sticking out underneath. He was clearly already detaching from his exoskeleton, as he seemed to have no coordination of his limbs and his tarsi were sitting strangely. I tried giving him honey water 3 times, but he couldn't move or grip anything. There was no way he would be able to molt to adult, or survive the way he was, so I put him in the freezer 😭

Yes @Prayingmantisqueen his videos are well viewed on YT, and he uses that to drive traffic to his store, where he sells mantids, supplies, feeders, and other inverts. The bad side is that he doesn't fulfill his orders. They stop replying to emails and the only way to get resolution is to start a case with PayPal and hope they refund you. That is what I eventually had to do.

He has put out a vid where he discusses having mental health issues, but the bottom line is if you can't ship orders, don't take them. I need to find time to write out breeder feedback on my experience with him.

It's a shame, as his videos are helpful and so people get suckered in to buying from him. I think the best thing for YT would be a person making care videos that either doesn't have a store or has a store that isn't a scam.

Gustav finally molted to adult last night. Came home from work to find him with wings. It's about time! Now, if only Arthur would take a cue from his brother 😊

Utah is still hanging and looking molty, so she will hopefully molt today. I also have a female orchid who is about to molt to subadult, and is looking ready to molt any second. Hopefully, she will molt tonight, too.

I have 4 adult male Orchids, though I'm shocked Domenic is still alive. He has lost a leg from age (he lost the tarsi first, then the rest) and only rarely eats, but is still kicking. I haven't been trying him as a breeder, thinking he is too old, but idk I'm new to breeding!

Utah is due to molt to adult any day now, and I have 3 more subs right behind her, a presub, and 2 L5s. So, soon I will have a whole slew of adult female Orchids!

Impatiently waiting for Arthur and Gustav, the male Ghosts, to molt to adult. It's been almost 8 weeks since they hit sub. Declan should also molt to adult soon

Tried Xena with a new boyfriend, Xander. He got on her back, gave her some "back massages" and tried a few times to connect. Every time he got his abdomen around to make a connection, Xena would use a back foot to 'shoo' him away. Eventually, I gave up and separated the two because Xena was starting to seem agitated and showed little interest. I didn't want Xander to end up as a late dinner

I tried pairing Adam and Xena again to no avail. He locked his sights on her, and looked as though he would go for it but never did. After a few hours, I put Xena and Adam away in their respective homes, and vowed to try again today.

A few molts overnight: Tanya and Katya the Ghosts both molted to subadult. One of my Orchid sub males molted to adult. Now I have 4 total adult male orchids, including old man Domenic. I still have one sub male, and 5 L4 orchids I am sexing today. I think at least 2 are males.

Bellatrix finally laid her first oothecca. She'd been looking awfully plump for weeks, I was starting to be concerned about her becoming egg bound. I moved her to an even bigger enclosure with more sticks and she laid the next day! She is hungry and readily ate a few BBFs last night.

Cam ate one of his BBFs, but hasn't eaten more since his final molt. I'm mildly concerned with how skinny he looks, but I've heard adult male ghosts are light eaters. He has eaten, so I'm sure he is fine.

Domenic the Orchid male is on his way out. He has lost a tarsi and seems reluctant to move 😞

@MantisGirl13Xena doesn't seem to care about the male being present, but he seems scared of her! I'm gonna keep trying 👍😊

The stick Bellatrix chose for her ooth was actually the same stick she had in her previous enclosure, funny enough. I think she just didn't have the room to maneuver the way she wanted.

Cam ate one fly, so I know he has had something, at least. His abdomen looks so empty, though! I left his BBFs in with him, just in case he changes his mind and decides to eat more. I've had males take 3 days after a molt to eat, so I suppose he is doing well and just taking his time.